


Mute

by xhyejinx



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bullies, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lee Jihoon | Woozi & Min Yoongi | Suga Are Related, M/M, Mute Jihoon, Muteness, Romance, Translator Mingyu, lowkey junhao and jeongcheol if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 11:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15169607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xhyejinx/pseuds/xhyejinx
Summary: mutemyo͞ot/Submitadjective1. refraining from speech or temporarily speechless.in which Lee Jihoon and mute and Kim Mingyu is his translator.





	Mute

**Author's Note:**

> Hi i wrote all of this in a day so sorry about all these mistakes!! I wrote this for a friend as well so i hope you enjoy it boo~  
> Jihoon and Mingyu needs more attention because they make me so soft. Anyway, I hope y'all enjoy this!! (also hope this story does not offend anyone thanks)
> 
> its really long lol

Jihoon never talked to anyone, well that's because he couldn't talk. He was mute. Being the youngest child in his family, he was always overprotected and cared for the most, clinging to only other brother he had with him. Yoongi loved his little brother so much, when Jihoon was born, he wouldn't ever leave the infant alone. The family found out that Jihoon was mute around the time kindergarten was rolling around, his mother had started to notice that Jihoon was clingy to Yoongi and often isolated himself in public situations. They took him to the doctor where he was diagnosed with Aphasia, which prevented his brain from formulating language. Being the loving parents that they were, Jihoon was homeschooled for most of his elementary life and wasn't put into school until fourth grade. He suffered from anxiety attacks and had to take medication that would help him and hopefully, he would overcome the attacks. Yoongi learned sign language and taught it to Jihoon so he could interact, at least, with a translator at school. By sixth grade, Jihoon anxiety attacks occurred less often now and he was able to focus on his work without having a breakdown and having to rely on Yoongi. Jihoon also didn't have many friends in school, no one wanted to be friends with a kid they couldn't understand, except for one kid. Kim Mingyu, Jihoon's assigned translator. Like Yoongi, Mingyu was always around Jihoon, he had to translate everything to whomever Jihoon needed to talk too. So Mingyu knew about everything. They ate together, played together, did schoolwork together; where ever Jihoon went, Mingyu went with him.

Middle school rolled around and so did some changes. Jihoon had stopped growing and stood at around "5'5, it made some of his anxiety come back since he was the shortest boy in school while everyone else was a giant. Mingyu, however, was continuing to grow, he was around "5'10 when middle school started. He got scouted for the school's basketball team which meant that he would be around Jihoon less, but they tried to stick together as much as possible. That's when the bullying started to happen. Jihoon was super clingy towards Mingyu, the taller boy was like a savior and protector to him, if no one was there for him, like a flower, Jihoon would wilt. Jihoon didn't know how to protect himself; he couldn't protect himself. There were many days where he came home crying into Yoongi's arms, he would tell him that these boys call him names, tease him, push him around, and almost kicked him to the ground. Upon hearing all of this, Yoongi and Jihoon went straight to the principal's office to complain, but Jihoon wanted to be the one to take full responsibility and tell his story. But, as usual, no one took the matters into their own hands. They only gave the bullies a slap on the wrist when there were obvious evidence and better punishment, but no one listens to a mute kid. Jihoon's family thought about moving schools, but that wouldn't ensure that he would get a translator. Mingyu was already the greatest thing to happen to Jihoon, why would they want that happiness to go away when he finally started feeling it? When winter break rolled around, Jihoon's family demanded that Mingyu and Jihoon would never be separated from any class and that Jihoon would get as much help from the teachers as possible.

Jihoon successfully made it through middle school with the help of Mingyu, who was happily there for him every step of the way but made a promise to be there even more during high school. Yoongi had already graduated and was already off to college, he made sure Mingyu would be there every step of the way. Jihoon was the only brother that Yoongi had, he was innocent and sweet, yet weak; he needed to be protected and taken care of. Jihoon also stopped growing officially, looks like he would stay "5'5 for the rest of his life, meanwhile, Mingyu had continued sprouting and was a whopping "6'1. He was a giant.

On orientation day, Jihoon sat next to this interesting boy. His name was Chan and he later found out that he was a dancer. Chan had tapped on Jihoon's shoulder because he didn't know anyone else sitting around him, so he wanted to get familiar with someone. "What's your name?" he had asked Jihoon. The shorter boy turned to look at who was speaking to him, he replied in sign language saying his name. "What?" the other boy said. Jihoon turns and taps on Mingyu's shoulder, asking him for assistance.

"What is it?" the raven-haired boy asks softly. Jihoon points at the boy sitting next to him, signing, "he asked for my name."

"I'm sorry," the boy apologizes "not trying to be rude or anything, but can he not talk?"

"Jihoon is mute," Mingyu says "he can't talk so I'm his translator so he can talk to people."

The other boy introduces himself, "I'm Chan. I don't know anyone around me so I thought I could just make friends. You two seem really nice." Jihoon starts to smile and signs "I would love to be friends!" towards Chan.

"Oh, he says that he would love to be friends," Mingyu translates to the other boy "you also seem really nice."

"What's your first class?" Chan asks "do you have shared schedules?"

Jihoon nods and signs, "yes, I have to have MIngyu around to translate for me."

"What did he say?" Chan asks.

"I have to be around him all the time to translate," Mingyu translates "none of the teachers know sign language; that was a big problem in elementary and middle school."

Jihoon turns to Mingyu and signs, "the teachers didn't get me. They're the main reason why I hated school." The taller boy laughs and pats Jihoon's head softly as the smaller boy smiled. After orientation, they headed off to class and got an introduction to what it would be like for the rest of the school year. Every time the bell rang to head off to your next class, Mingyu would have to explain to the teacher that Jihoon was mute and that he needed to be treated fairly. Luckily, most of the teachers seemed super sweet and were very nice about it. Lunch finally rolled around and everyone was off to the cafeteria. Chan joined them in line and they all chatted as they got food. Mingyu and Jihoon found out that Chan was apart of a dance team with his friends who were also attending school with him; he offered them to sit with his group.

"Can we?" Jihoon had signed to Mingyu "I wanna make new friends."

"Are you sure?" Mingyu had replied, "I just want to make sure you're comfortable and not pressured into anything."

"I wanna meet people!" Jihoon cast a bright smile at Mingyu and he couldn't say no to that cute face. Surprisingly, Jihoon had started to come out of his shell, in middle school, if someone came up to him then he would curl up into a ball and start crying. Something happened over the summer that made him less anxious. The trio got their food and Chan led them to the table where his other friends were, "hyungs! I brought new friends."

Soonyoung, Junhui, and Minghao all look towards the three other boys being brought to the table, "you brought new meat!" Soonyoung beamed scooting over a little bit so the others could sit down.

"Chan who'd you bring?" Minghao asked. Chan let MIngyu and Jihoon sit down first while he sat down next to Soonyoung.

"Guys this is Jihoon and Mingyu," Chan said to the table "do you want to introduce yourselves?"

Mingyu looks at Jihoon and quietly asks if he wants to introduce both of them, the shorter boy nods, telling Mingyu that he's starving and the fish is calling his name.

"Wait," Minghao interrupts "what's he saying?"

"Jihoon is mute," Chan explains "Mingyu is his translator and they've been best friends for a while."

Mingyu chuckles, "yeah, that's pretty much it. I've been with him since fourth grade and we can't go anywhere without each other."

"That's so cute," Soonyoung cooed to the pair "and so is your height difference."

"Yanno, I wouldn't mention that in front of Jihoon," Mingyu says "he will actually beat you up."

"No, I won't," Jihoon signed towards Mingyu "I'll let him off for now."

Mingyu chuckles, "he said that he'll let it slide this time." The group all chat and eat together, eventually exchanges numbers in the end before heading off to their next classes. Mingyu praised Jihoon for coming out of his shell on the first day of school. At the end of each class, he and Jihoon would tell the teacher that Jihoon was mute and all that before heading out. The last class was shortened because there was going to be a club fair, Mingyu had already been asked by a bunch of students to join the basketball team and that they wanted him to check the booth during the fair. Yes, Mingyu was on the basketball team in middle school but he didn't particularly enjoy it, but who knows, he could get a scholarship from it.

"What club are you interested in joining?" Mingyu asks Jihoon, the two were walking around the gym, looking at all the club that the school offered. Jihoon only shrugs and tells his friend that he'll have to see. They reach the basketball team and in the Mingyu signs up, they tried to persuade Jihoon in but no one wants a tiny boy on their team. "Have you seen any clubs that you like so far?" the taller boy asked.

Jihoon shrugged again and signed, "the dance team looked interesting."

"Wanna go check it out then?" Mingyu asked. Jihoon nods excitedly and the two navigate themselves to the dance team, Soonyoung was there talking with people who were interested in joining, Junhui spotted the two and brought them over. "Do you wanna join the dance team? It's so much fun."

"I think Jihoon wants to," Mingyu tells the blonde "I would like to join but I feel like it would cross with basketball." Jihoon tapped on the taller boys side, telling him that he should the dance team with him and that it would be a great experience. "I guess it won't hurt to join too.." he mumbles and adds his name, number, and email to the list. Jihoon does the same.

"You two are joining the team?" Soonyoung asked excitedly "you like dancing, Jihoon?"

"I think it's fun," Jihoon signed and Mingyu translating for him.

"We can't wait to have both of you!" the team gave the two informational pamphlets and documents that they were going to read over that night. Mingyu was super happy for Jihoon since he had made new friends and joined the dance team. Hopefully, the first year of high school wasn't going to be terrible.

Mingyu was wrong. On the third day of school, he caught a cold. Just his luck. When Jihoon got the news from his mother, he panicked because how was he going to talk with anyone in school that day? Write everything down? Probably. His mother drove him to school and told him that everything was going to be okay as long as he stuck with his friends. He hopped out of the car and greeted Soonyoung and Chan for homeroom.

"Hey, Jihoon-hyung!" Chan said with a smile, only to be greeted with a little pout from the shorter boy "what's wrong hyung? You don't look too happy."

Jihoon sighed and took out his notebook, where he would probably be writing in for the rest of the week if Mingyu didn't get better. "Mingyu got sick so he can't translate for me."

"Really? I'm sorry, Jihoonie," Soonyoung pouted along with Jihoon, trying to make him smile "just stick with us and we'll protect you!"

"Don't worry, we have a few classes together, so it won't suck," Chan added.

Jihoon was able to make it the rest of the week without many slip-ups, he would come home to Mingyu with missed homework and helped his sick friend with everything. It was kinda hard explaining all the math homework to Mingyu but he got it eventually. On Friday, Jihoon was at his locker, waiting for Chan and the others to walk home with him. He texted Mingyu, telling him that he would be home later to hang out and have a movie night (because that's what good friends do). His locker door gets slammed shut, startling Jihoon and causing to drop his phone onto the floor. Before he reaches for it, someone already does and his eyes meet a group of taller boys. Jihoon could do nothing but whimper and shake.

"Is this yours?" one of them asks. Jihoon recognizes them, but he doesn't know their name. He was Choi Seungcheol, the captain of the basketball team and a senior. His family was super rich, they practically owned this school. "Sorry, did you say something?" he repeats himself with a smirk.

Jihoon could do nothing but try and ask(sign) politely for his phone back.

"What the fuck is he saying?" one of the boys behind Seungcheol mutters. Jihoon tries to reach for his phone since he was getting nowhere with asking.

"Oh, you want your phone back?" Seungcheol asks "sorry, you can't. It's mine now." The shorter boy jumps for his phone but the taller boy lifts it up so that Jihoon couldn't reach for it. The group of taller boys laugh until one of them eventually push the shorter boy against the lockers.

"You're so pathetic," they tease "and tiny. Aren't you sad that your boyfriend isn't here to save you?"

Jihoon curled himself up, all the flashbacks from middle school were coming back to him, all the memories of the bullies pulling the strings behind stunts that would publically humiliate him. He couldn't handle all the emotion so he just starts to bawl.

"Are you going to cry?" they laugh at him more. Seungcheol leans against the lockers and begins to lift his leg up, pointing his foot at his target before launching at him. The others join in and

"Leave Jihoon alone!" a group of boys screamed as the dashed down the hall.

"Oh fuck! Let's go!" Seungcheol steps away from Jihoon, throwing the youngers phone back at him before running away. Jihoon was left lying on the floor, crying. Chan and the others run over to Jihoon and try their best to help out. Soonyoung became a shoulder to cry on, but he didn't mind because Jihoon is precious and he just got beat up. "Call Mingyu," Minghao said and Chan stumbled to get his phone out of his pocket so he could call up Jihoon's translator.

A raspy voice answers the phone, "what? Chan, why are you calling?"

"Jihoon just got a beating from a senior," the younger says hastily "we're bringing him to you as soon as possible."

"What?!" Mingyu yells from the other line "fuck..this is all my fault.."

"No, it isn't! Seungcheol is just a bitch who wants to assert his rich dominance at school," Junhui said helping up the crying Jihoon with Soonyoung.

"We'll be home as soon as possible," Chan ends the phone call and he assists everyone else with Jihoon. "It's okay, hyung. You're going to be alright." They all take Jihoon back to Mingyu's house, where he was already sitting on the porch waiting for his best friend. When Jihoon finally got ahold of his friend, he cried hard and the only think Mingyu could do was wrap his arms around the smaller boy. "I'm so sorry.." he whispers and brings everyone into his house where the smell of soup resonated throughout every room. "Do you know who did this to him?"

"Seungcheol," Junhui said, "he's the captain of the basketball team and the richest person in school."

"I know what you are thinking," Minghao intervened "don't go after 'Cheol. He will ruin you and once that happens, it isn't pretty."

Jihoon tapped on Mingyu to get his attention and signed to him, "just protect me..as long as I have your side, he won't go after me."

"What's he saying?" Chan asked leaning against the counter.

"He wants me to protect him," Mingyu said reaching for Jihoon's hand to hold it tightly "of course I'll be there for you."

Throughout the rest of the fall semester, Jihoon's group would always make sure that no harm came to him, Mingyu especially. He was by Jihoon's side every second of every day; he never wanted to leave his friend. Jihoon's parents were happy that their son was coming out of his shell and was making friends, having them over, and spending time doing extracurricular activities (dance team). However, Chan started to suspect something. Jihoon and Mingyu are the closest pair he knows, other than Junhui and Minghao (since they were Chinese transfer students); why weren't they a couple? He didn't want to ask because he felt super rude asking it. Well, he couldn't ask Jihoon in the first place because he didn't know sign language, but if he asked Mingyu, he would just start to feel awkward and nervous because Mingyu is a giant. Maybe he should ask Junhui to ask since he was the older friend out of the group and he had no shame (have you been to dance practice with Junhui?).

"Hey 'Gyu," Junhui strolled down the hallway and just so happened to be passing by Mingyu's locker, "I got a question for you."

"Yeah, what is it, hyung?" Mingyu shuts his locker and leans against it so he can look at Junhui.

"Are you and Jihoon by any chance romantically involved?" the blonde asks "I'm not judging you two, Chan and I were just curious because you and Jihoon are just so close. I've never seen a bond that close and as deep as yours."

Mingyu turns a bright shade of pink and looks around to see if anyone was paying attention before he pulled Junhui close, "y-yes, I like Jihoon very very much."

"I knew it!"

"Keep your voice down!" Mingyu covered Junhui's mouth with his hand and looked around again, Jihoon was heading towards Mingyu's locker soon so they could head to class together.

"When are you going to tell him?" Junhui's question was muffled due to the fact that Mingyu's hand was covering his mouth "are you going to ask him to the Halloween Dance?"

Mingyu shakes his head and leans against his locker, "Jihoon hates dances, he and I are just going to watch horror films all night."

"Well, you should tell him then!"

A crying Jihoon dashes down the hall and runs into Mingyu's arms, he squeezes the taller boy so tightly that he could possibly suffocate him. "Jihoonie? What's wrong?" Jihoon said nothing and kept crying into MIngyu's chest, not wanting to budge. "Look at me, Jihoon." the shorter boy shakes his head.

"Mingyu is just trying to help you, Jihoon," Junhui started to pet Jihoons head and looked at Mingyu nervously, mouthing to him, "what's wrong with him?" Mingyu only shrugs.

"Let's go to the bathroom," the tall boy says "just tell the teacher that something came up and we'll be back in class." Junhui nods and heads off to class while the other two head off to the bathroom. Luckily every stall was empty, so they were alone. Jihoon looked down at the floor, hiding the guilt that was placed upon him, he didn't want Mingyu to see what had happened. "Look at me," Mingyu said.

Jihoon kept his head down and sniffled, he was too scared to face someone he loved deeply. He signed towards Mingyu, "you won't be mad, right?"

"I would never be mad at you, Jihoon," Mingyu said softly "I love you" and blushed. All Jihoon could do was sigh and blush, he loved Mingyu so much and wanted to be with him for the rest of his life, but for now, he had to face his fear and show Mingyu what had happened. When Jihoon lifted his head up, Mingyu saw a black eye. "Who did this to you?!" he kneeled down to Jihoon's level and examined the wound.

"Seungcheol," Jihoon signed to him. This was all Mingyu's fault, he wasn't there to protect Jihoon and his best friend got hurt because of it, Seungcheol was taking things too far. Mingyu got up and grabbed a hold of Jihoon's hand, leading both of them to the nurse's office where Jihoon's eye could get looked at and treated. The nurse decided to sent Jihoon home for the rest of the day, Mingyu wanted to go with his friend but the nurse said that he should stay until the day ends. The taller boy slumps into his class where Junhui was waiting for him in the back of the classroom. "Everything alright? Where's Jihoon?"

"Seungcheol gave him a black eye," Mingyu whispered back to Junhui "the nurse sent him home for the rest of the day."

"Hopefully he will be alright," Junhui assured his friend.

"Yeah, me too.."

Mingyu went over to Jihoon's house at the end of the day to check up on him, his mother was home cooking dinner already. "Is Jihoon alright, ma'am?"

His mother only smiled, "he's resting right now, but he's okay" she got back to cooking, Mingyu decided to help out a little bit because he was such a housewife. Around five-thirty, Jihoon's father came home from work, he started to help around in the kitchen as well; Jihoon was still asleep. When dinner time rolled around, Mingyu went upstairs to retrieve his friend for food, when he peeked into Jihoon's room, he found the boy playing on his phone. "Jihoonie," he said leaning in the doorway "it's dinner time, come down."

Jihoon turned to face Mingyu, the black eye looked like it got worse. He pats the mattress for his friend to come to sit down next to him; Mingyu proceeds to enter Jihoon's room and sit down on the mattress. "Feeling better?" he asks. The shorter boy nods and sits up, leaning against the headboard and signs "it's not your fault, you know that."

"I know it isn't my fault," Mingyu says with a sigh "but you don't deserve to get pushed around like that." He reaches for Jihoon's hand, that was stuffed inside his oversized sweater, actually, that sweater was Mingyu's because he left it after having a sleepover. "Promise me that you're going to start standing up for yourself?"

Jihoon nods and signs, "I promise, but please stay by my side?"

"Always," Mingyu presses a soft kiss onto Jihoon's little hand and Jihoon's mom calls for them to come downstairs for dinner. "Shall we-"

Jihoon sits up and pulls Mingyu closer to him, pressing his soft lips against the others for a sweet, simple kiss. When Jihoon pulls away he signs, "I love you."

Mingyu signs back, "I love you too" they smile at each other and head down to dinner.

The next couple weeks, Jihoon's black eye got better and Seungcheol had stopped pushing him around surprisingly (Mingyu probably told him to back off). Lunches with the group became way more soft and romantic, Mingyu would pack something sweet for Jihoon every, because he loved seeing Jihoon happy. Everyone else loved seeing them together because they were the cutest couple to ever exist. Mingyu knew how to make Jihoon happy and Jihoon knew how to make Mingyu happy. At the end of a cold, December day, Mingyu stopped by Jihoon's locker, helping him get the textbooks he needed to study that night. Chan and the others were coming over for a big study party, everyone was super excited. Everyone was waiting for Jihoon to finish getting everything out of his locker. Suddenly, Seungcheol came up to Jihoon's locker and slammed it shut, "hey nerds, going somewhere?"

Jihoon only rolled his eyes and went to unlock his locker, ignoring Seungcheol as best he could, he didn't have time for this bullshit. When he opened his locker again, Seungcheol shut it again. The shorter boy only sighed and shot a look towards the senior. "What? You gonna cry?" Jihoon gives Mingyu a look, and the taller boy nods with a grin; he signs something to Seungcheol, Mingyu laughs.

"What's so funny? What'd he say?!" Seungcheol growls towards the two.

"Oh nothing," Mingyu shrugs "he just said fuck you is all."

"Little punk-"

"Seungcheol hyung~" an angelic voice called out from down the hall. Everyone's head turns towards the voice and finds it attached the most beautiful boy in school. Yoon Jeonghan, part-time model, was the most popular senior and prettiest boy that attended the high school. Every girl and boy had a crush on him, even rich boy Seungcheol did. "Come on, we need to study. You aren't going to pass your government test if you don't learn all the information,"

"Y-Yes Jeonghan," Seungcheol stuttered and ran off to the long-haired brunette. Jeonghan cast a smile at Jihoon, giving him a wave as well before he and Seungcheol left. Jihoon waved back.

"That was a close one," Minghao ran up to the group, he clung to Junhui tightly "ready to go?"

Jihoon nods and swings his backpack around his shoulders. The group head back to Jihoon's house where they made a study area in his room, Jihoon and Mingyu sat on his bed while Chan was on the floor, Soonyoung at the desk, and Minghao and Junhui were leaning against the door. "Okay, if you get the answer right, I'll give you a kiss," Mingyu said to Jihoon.

"I got it," Jihoon signs to his boyfriend. They studied for hours until it was time for dinner when all the boys left the room to eat, they were starving. They chilled in the living room, talking about all the drama that had happened and so on. Jihoon cuddled Mingyu tightly, not wanting to let go at all. He placed many soft kisses on Mingyu, he found that to be super enjoyable and time-consuming. "Cute," Mingyu whispered as he placed a kiss on Jihoon's head. Jihoon cupped his sweater paws around Mingyu's cheeks, pulling them in for a soft, loving kiss.

("Awwee," everyone else cooed to them "cuties.")

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! I hope you all enjoyed it!


End file.
